Nanocrystalline CGO thin films for Micro-Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

摘要

The power density of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell can be increased by decreasing the thickness of the electrolyte, and therefore its ohmic resistance, or by using cerium gadolinium oxide (CGO) which has a higher ionic conductivity than state-of-the-art YSZ. Up to now, it is unclear how the defect distribution, and thus conductivity mechanisms, of mixed ionic-electronic conducting CGO electrolytes are affected when grain size is decreased below 100 nm (1) (2). Spray pyrolysis offers the advantage to deposit amorphous and dense thin films, which can be converted to nanocrystalline microstructures by annealing. In the present work the grain growth, electrical conductivity and thermodynamic stability of CGO spray pyrolysis thin films are investigated (3).